Hello from Staten Island, NY

This is my first venture into the loose leaf tea drinking experience. I wanted to get off the daily coffee habit but still have something to drink that might be more beneficial to my health then coffee. My wife is the tea drinker in the house but only decaf and only the general store bought brands and some herbals like Celestial Seasonings. I don’t know exactly how I stumbled upon the Adagio site, but I did and thought why not give it a try. I bought one each of the starter sets (black, green, herbal and flavored). I figured I wanted to try a bunch of different teas (to see which ones I would prefer), a decaf sampler for the wife and a Casablanca Twist (loved the name and it tastes good too!).

Now I have a few questions for the experts out there:

1. Are all black teas caffeinated and which ones contain the most caffeine?
2. Do the other teas (herbal and green) contain any caffeine?
3. I assume the flavored teas do contain caffeine unless they are decaf. Is that correct?
4. One more question for now: I read on the TeaChat board about multiple infusions. After the first brewing (infusion?), what do you do with the used leaves until you want to use them again? Do you dry them out, then reuse? How do you save them?

1. Are all black teas caffeinated and which ones contain the most caffeine? All blacks are caffinated
2. Do the other teas (herbal and green) contain any caffeine? herbals contain no caffine and green contain caffine
3. I assume the flavored teas do contain caffeine unless they are decaf. Is that correct? decaf just means that they have less caffeine
4. One more question for now: I read on the TeaChat board about multiple infusions. After the first brewing (infusion?), what do you do with the used leaves until you want to use them again? Do you dry them out, then reuse? How do you save them? Usually re infusions are used the same day, one infusion after another

I hope I helped some! Welcome again and I hope you find the tea world pleasing!

maypo52 wrote:1. Are all black teas caffeinated and which ones contain the most caffeine?2. Do the other teas (herbal and green) contain any caffeine?3. I assume the flavored teas do contain caffeine unless they are decaf. Is that correct?4. One more question for now: I read on the TeaChat board about multiple infusions. After the first brewing (infusion?), what do you do with the used leaves until you want to use them again? Do you dry them out, then reuse? How do you save them?

Sorry for so many questions.

Regards to all,

Mark

Welcome Mark.

1. All black teas come from the same plant, so yes, they are all caffeinated. As to which is most, I don't know. My guess is for ceylon or assam.

2.Herbal tea is not really tea, but a tisane drink made from herbs. Usually these are caffeine-free. All "tea" that comes from the camellia sinensis bush/tree have caffeine (this includes black, green, oolong, white, yellow, pu-erh).

3. Yes, the flavored teas are teas with additional flavoring. Also, decaffeinated teas still have a small amount of caffeine.

4. Most people re-infuse immediately after their first cup (Be aware that black tea is not best for re-infusing. Most people just infuse black tea once, and sometimes twice). If not immediately after, I will let the leaves sit in the pot for a couple hours (3 at most usually), then re-infuse. Some people re-infuse even the day after, but I don't recommend this.

Personally I agree with Ladytiger's responses with a few caveats to dispute.

1) Decaf black teas do exist, and while technically they do still contain small amounts of caffeine, they are rather effectively caffeine free. Unless you are sensitive to very very small levels.
2. I believe there may be some herbals which contain caffeine, nothing comes to mind though.
3) That is correct, and lady is correct as well. Flavored teas are basically black teas with flavoring. A decaf is not fully decaffinated, but effectively so.

I'll just add a couple comments to what everyone else has posted. The teas with the most caffeine *on average* (this may not always be true) are those grown in Kenya, Assam, or Japan. The former two because of the plant subspecies (assamica), the latter due to particular fertilizer use.

Note that Japan pretty much only makes green tea, so the amount of caffeine is not so much due to it being black, oolong, green, etc.; but rather it is due to the growing conditions and plant type. Also keep in mind that more highly roasted teas (certain oolongs and houjicha, off the top of my head) have less caffeine than normal.

The one herbal I can think of with caffeine is Yerba Mate. (Some claim that it has mateine and not caffeine, but the science on which they base their argument is complete hogwash.)